Plumbing issue - upstairs waste goes into my bath pipe!!

lad22

Hello, I'm getting a new bathroom done. My builders cut my bath pipe and suddenly we were flooded with waste from above! It turns out the flat upstairs' waste pipe goes into my bath!! Not even my toilet! I raised this with them and they at first refused to pay for anything! The plumbing of course was not put in this way by them (it's a Victorian building with 4 flats and was bought, done up cheaply and sold as units by a building company 12 years ago). I complained about this and they agreed to pay half to extend it to my toilet waste pipe. My builders say I should just tell them I'm not responsible for their waste and warn them I'm capping their pipe and they can get their own plumber in to send it out of their flat another way. My question is: can I do this? Can they take me to court and get a specific performance injunction against me to put it back (and damages, etc etc)? Must I accept their waste pipe running through my flat? I should mention that about ten years ago they flushed a cut credit card down their toilet and it caused effluent to burst into our bath. I was actually away at the time, so it was sorted out by a plumber without me being there, and I didn't quite understand - but now it makes sense. Thank you!

AdrianC

It doesn't "go into your bath" - your bath simply empties into the same soil stack as their toilet. That soil stack is part of the fabric of the building, the freeholder's property, same as the incoming water feed is.

That's all situation normal.

pinkteapot

Is there a freeholder and/or managing company, or is it share of freehold? 

davidmcn

AdrianC said:

It doesn't "go into your bath" - your bath simply empties into the same soil stack as their toilet. That soil stack is part of the fabric of the building, the freeholder's property, same as the incoming water feed is.

That's all situation normal.

Indeed. Other than the flushing something stupid down the bog incident, I'm not sure why any of this is the neighbour's responsibility - if something needs changed with the communal plumbing, that's something for everyone to sort out together.

The story sounds a bit more like the builders trying creatively to pass on the blame for their own c0ck-up...

lad22

pinkteapot said:

Is there a freeholder and/or managing company, or is it share of freehold? 

Yes there is. I have a share of the freehold (there are 2 of us), but the other guy never wants to accept that anything is the freeholder's responsibility. He's very difficult to work with.

lad22

davidmcn said:

AdrianC said:

It doesn't "go into your bath" - your bath simply empties into the same soil stack as their toilet. That soil stack is part of the fabric of the building, the freeholder's property, same as the incoming water feed is.

That's all situation normal.

Indeed. Other than the flushing something stupid down the bog incident, I'm not sure why any of this is the neighbour's responsibility - if something needs changed with the communal plumbing, that's something for everyone to sort out together.

The story sounds a bit more like the builders trying creatively to pass on the blame for their own c0ck-up...

This was nothing to do with my builders - it was builders 12 years ago who did a very bad job of all the plumbing in the building. 

lad22

AdrianC said:

It doesn't "go into your bath" - your bath simply empties into the same soil stack as their toilet. That soil stack is part of the fabric of the building, the freeholder's property, same as the incoming water feed is.

That's all situation normal.

They're above me, so their toilet empties into my bath waste (not my toilet waste, which is a separate pipe literally 2 metres away). Surely toilet waste should go in the same waste pipe as other toilet waste, not water from a bath?

davidmcn

lad22 said:

AdrianC said:

It doesn't "go into your bath" - your bath simply empties into the same soil stack as their toilet. That soil stack is part of the fabric of the building, the freeholder's property, same as the incoming water feed is.

That's all situation normal.

They're above me, so their toilet empties into my bath waste (not my toilet waste, which is a separate pipe literally 2 metres away). Surely toilet waste should go in the same waste pipe as other toilet waste, not water from a bath?

Or to put it another way, your bath empties into their toilet waste pipe...

In any event this isn't your neighbour's "fault", it's the way the flats were built, and you bought into whatever existing problem there is.

AdrianC

lad22 said:

AdrianC said:

It doesn't "go into your bath" - your bath simply empties into the same soil stack as their toilet. That soil stack is part of the fabric of the building, the freeholder's property, same as the incoming water feed is.

That's all situation normal.

They're above me, so their toilet empties into my bath waste (not my toilet waste, which is a separate pipe literally 2 metres away). Surely toilet waste should go in the same waste pipe as other toilet waste, not water from a bath?

Exactly. They're above you.

Your bath waste is going into the soil stack from their flat's bathroom. From their sink, shower, toilet, everything. And your toilet will join that same soil stack almost immediately.

Go and look on the outside of almost any house. You'll see the soil stack.

Big pipes are toilet, small pipes are sinks/showers. The only difference is that that main vertical big pipe is inside the building in your place, not outside.

It all goes into the same sewer...

Mickey666

Exactly, plus if above toilets really did empty into the small (usually 30-40mm) pipe carrying the bath waste water then I’m pretty sure there would have been some spectacular blockages by now

lookstraightahead

This reminds me of an incident where I used to live (3 Victorian houses split). Waste pipe flooded over the pavement and wr stood there seeing whose toilet paper had caused the blockage 😆. Thankfully we all get along very well